Display and support fixture and clip



July 24, 1962 5. J. CYGAN DISPLAY AND SUPPORT FIXTURE AND CLIP 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 11, 1958 FIG. I

FIG. 5

INVENTOR: STANLEY J. CYGAN '27 11.2,,

ATT 'Ys July 24, 1962 5. J. CYGAN 3,045, 961

DISPLAY AND SUPPORT FIXTURE AND CLIP Filed Dec. 11, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet'2 INVENTOR: STANLEY J. CYGAN ATT'YS 3,045,961 DISPLAY AND SUPPURTFEXTURE AND CLIP Stanley J. Cygan, Chicago, llll., assignor to FosterProdnets, Inc, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Filed Dec. 11,1958, Ser. No. 779,694 2 Claims. ((31. 248-423) This invention relatesto a display and support fixture including a baseboard, a clip removablymountable thereon, and means on the clip for mounting an articlethereon. More particularly, the invention relates to anew and improvedcombination of a grooved baseboard or signboard and a snap on clip, andto the novel clip.

An important object of the invention is to provide a versatile displayand support fixture adaptable to many uses, which constitutes animprovement over and serves to replace pegboards and the like.

Another important object is to provide a display fin:- ture on which maybe displayed innumerable types of articles, such as articles ofmerchandise or representations thereof, including hard goods and softgoods, pictorial matter, identification, prices, advertising, and soforth. While the construction has been denominated a display fixture forconvenience of description, it is suitable for many uses whichimmediately suggest themselves upon consideration of the invention, suchas for holding tools, shelves, cooking utensils, and many other purposesatnt where a wall'ooard or pegboard having supporting or suspendingmeans has been or may be employed.

The invention constitutes an impr ovement over the constructiondescribed and claimed in my prior copend-.

ing application Serial Number 69,426, filed October 31, 1956, now US.Patent No. 2,880,537, wherein the combination of a grooved si'gnboardand three-dimensional letters or other characters isclaimed. The presentapplication is a continuation-impart of the said prior patentapplication and the disclosure thereof is incorporated herein byreference. The, combinations of the prior application and the presentapplication are adapted both to be used separately and in differentapplications, and together in providing a display fixture or signconstruction combining letters or other characters, supported articles,and other sign materials.

The present invention includes in the new combination. a new and veryadvantageous snap-on clip which is removal thereof, and which is yetcapable of supporting considerable weights and resisting dislodgment ofthe clips and supported articles.

An additional object is to provide a fixture constructed of attractive,economical and lightweight plastic material, combined with smallinconspicuous removable snap-on yet strong and rigid preferably metalclips. The fixture is especially suited for use in retailestablishments. it also provides a useful and attractive addition to thehome and shop.

Another object is to provide a fixture which readily may be mounted invarious locations or moved from place to place, due to its compact andlight construction, and on which various articles may be changed atwill.

A further object is to provide a combination which includes a snap-onclip and a simple removing tool cooperating therewith.

These and other objects, advantages and functions of the invention willbe apparent on reference to the specification and to the attacheddrawings, in which like ice parts are identified by like referencecharacters in each of the views, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front perspective view of a grooved baseboard or signboardwith several snap-on clips on which articles aremounted, together with acard for advertising or like copy as may be employed therewith,representing a preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is an end elevational view of a baseboard and furtherembodiment of the clip and load supporting element joined thereto,illustrating the support of a bottle thereby;

FIGURE 3 is a front perspective view of the clip illustrated in FIGURE2;

FIGURE 4 is a vertical section of the baseboard illustrated in theremaining views and a simple form of the clip of the invention;

FXGURES 5 through 9 are front perspective views of additionalembodiments of the clip and load supporting elements joined thereto;

FIGURE 10 illustrates a further embodiment of the clip and loadsupporting element joined thereto, on a portion of the baseboard infront perspective view;

FIGURE 11 is a top perspective view of alifting or removing tool forremoving the clips from the baseboard; and

FIGURE 12 is a front perspective view illustrating the removal from thebaseboard of the clip of FiGURE 5, by means of the tool illustrated inFIGURE ll.

The invention provides a display and support fixture which includes agrooved baseboard or equivalent con struction, a snap-on clip mountablethereon, and means on the clipfor mounting an article on the clip andthus on the baseboard. The clip has a non-planar body so that portionsthereof are raised with respect to the base board or signboard uponwhich it is mounted, and the clip is thus described as having anoutwardly concavo convex body. In its preferred embodiment, the new clipfor a grooved board includes the described body and inwardly extendingsnap-on flanges joined thereto. ing or removing tool is also provided bythe invention,

which may be very simple owing to the improved construc:

tion of the clip, and comprises a handle and a fiangeelementconstituting the tool head.

Referring to the drawings, FIGURE 1 illustrates the display and supportfixture generally indicated by the numeral 1, as it may be employed forsupporting and displaying merchandise as well as other materials.fixture includes a grooved baseboard or signboard 2 and one or moresnap-on clips 3 and 4. Two of the snap-on, clips, numbered 3, areillustrated as supporting a bent wire hanger 5 or the like, on whichvarious articles of merchandise, display cards, or other items may besup The baseboard or signboard 2 includes a plurality of spaced parallelpreferably dovetailed elongated grooves or channels '9, which alternatewith correspondingly raised undercut or recessed strip portions orsurface portions 10 l which form the outer surface 6 of the baseboard.The baseboard 2 is preferably, but not necessarily, constructed ofplastic material, preferably synthetic thermoplastic organic resinousmaterial such as polystyrene andvinyl chloride polymers and copolymers.formed as a grooved sheet, such as by extrusion or vacuum forming. Onesurface may be grooved, such as the A lift- The The baseboard can beouter surface 6, or the reverse surface may also be grooved.Alternatively, a pair of baseboards 2 may be employed back to back. Itis preferred that the baseboard 2 be a unitary or one-piece groovedsheet or panel, but in a less desirable although useful embodiment, thestrips can be separate pieces fastened to a flat sheet or base, with thestrips spaced apart and in parallel, by mechanical means, adhesives orother securing means.

The plastic material of construction for the baseboard 2 must berelatively strong and rigid, and remain true to shape and size, so thatthe proper engagement with the clips such as 3 and 4 continues to beobtained over a period of time and under varying conditions. Thesecharacteristics are also necessary for the support of various articlesthereon, which may be relatively heavy and supported at some distancefrom the surface 6 of the baseboard. Consequently, the resinous materialis preferably a synthetic addition polymer of the unsymmetricallysubstituted ethylene class, comprising resins obtained by thepolymerization or copolymerization or monomers containing 21 group, suchas vinyl halides, vinyl esters, styrene and acrylics. Of the class,those polymers are employed which can be formed and will hold a shape.Polystyrene and vinyl polymers are further preferred, more preferablyhigh impact polystyrene and copolymers of vinyl chloride and vinylacetate. For example, a very useful copolymer constitutes 85% by weightof vinyl chloride and the balance vinyl acetate. It is also contemplatedthat the base.- board he produced from synthetic thermosetting resin asthe plastic material.

In some applications, the fixture may be employed as illustrated inFIGURE 1 and the various articles which engage in the grooves 9 of the.board may be inserted from the ends, sliding them into position.However, it is often necessary or desirable to mount the baseboard 2 ina frame or the like, in conventional manner not iilustrated, and inthese instances, it is necessary that the articles engaging in thegrooves, such as the clips 3 and 4, cards 3, and letters or othercharacters, be mounted on the board from the front. Also, there is thedisadvantage in sliding such articles in the grooves, that they must beinserted in the proper order and if the order is to be changed, a numberof articles must be removed and rearranged. It is a feature of theinvention that the display fixture includes the novel snap-on clips suchas 3 which are both readily inserted and removed from the front of thebaseboard and yet result in a strong and durable. assembly capable ofsupporting heavy articles without being dislodged.

In providing the grooved baseboard adapted for combination with snap-onfittings, the grooves are dovetailed or have sides 11 inclined from thesurface 6 of the baseboard at an angle b (see FIGURE 4) of about topreferably about 50. The angle may be less but is preferably notgreater, or the clips such as 3 or other articles may come off when notintended. Depending upon the intended use, only some of the grooves needhave inclined sides such as 11, it merely being necessary that there aresufiicient oppositely inclined sides 11 and 12 to enable snap-onengagement with the articles attached in the desired locations.

In providing an attractive and versatile baseboard 2, the grooves 9 andthe strip portions 10 may be of relatively small dimensions. Forexample, in the embodiment illustrated, the outer surface of the stripportions 10 may have a width of about inch, represented as c in FIG- URE4, and the opening or the mouth of the grooves h may have a width,represented as id, of about one-half that value. The Width of thegrooves d may be reduced to render the grooves less prominent. In thisconstruction, the'clip as represented in a simple embodiment by the carperforated clip 13 in FIGURE 4, may span two or more strip portions 10.

In a simple embodiment of the invention, a clip 13 as illustrated inFlGURE 4 is provided which is composed of a body 14 provided with acentral hole or opening 15, and a pair of inwardly extending snap-onflanges 16 which are inclined towards each other from opposite edges ofthe body. The body 14 of the clip is thus raised or projects outwardlyfrom the flat outer surface 6 of the baseboard 2, leaving a concavity 17for insertion of a removing tool between the clip and the baseboard. Thebody and the flanges 16 together form a C-clip, with the body of theclip extending in three substantial dimensions. Another embodiment ofthe C-clip is illustrated in FIGURE 10 wherein the clip has an arcuatebody 18.

In the described construction, the clip has an outwardly concavo-convexbody. This construction is important for two principal reasons. Toaccomplish the objects of the invention, it is necessary to provide astrong relatively rigid clip for the reliable support of heavy articles.This results in problems of construction in also attempting to provide asmall clip which can be fastened from the front of the baseboard andremoved without special measures, and without damage to or weakening ofthe clip. With the described construction, and referring to FIGURE 12,the clip 4 may be applied to the baseboard 2 by thumb pressure in thedirection of the arrow 1?, causing the clip to snap on the board. Thenon-planar or concavo-convex body 20 construction renders the body andthe clip 4 flexible and extensible, so that it spreads sufficiently forengagement of the flanges 16 in the grooves 9.

The expansible construction of the clip cooperates in the same mannerwhen removing the clip from the baseboard. Also, the concavity 17provides room for insertion of the lifting tool 21. This tool may berelatively simple and constructed as a bent bar or the like including ahandle 22 and a flat flange 23 at an angle to the handle andconstituting the tool head.

In removing a clip, thumb pressure is again exerted in the direction ofthe arrow 19 in FIGURE 12, on the top or outer surface of the clip,which tends to spread the clip and the flanges 16 thereof. At the sametime, the flange 23 of the lifting tool is inserted between the clip andthe baseboard and rotated counterclockwise, which lifts the upper flange16 of the clip from its groove followed by removal of the clip. The toolmay be stored inconspicuously behind or in the vicinity of the fixturewhen not in use, hanging it by means of a hole 24 in the handle.

The clips such as 3, 4, 13 and the other clips illustrated must be stiffor rigid and strong yet flexible and resilient. It is thereforepreferred that they be unitary and constructed of strong and durablemetal, preferably annealed spring steel. It is necessary that they berelatively thin for application and removability, and about 30-gauge or0.012. inch sheet metal is recommended. For these reasons and also toprovide an inconspicuous clip, the size of the clip is such that thebody is on the order of one inch square. Thus, the width of the body, eas represented in FIGURE 4, is preferably about one inch, and the length1 as illustrated in FIGURE 5 is about one inch. The other constructionis about in the proportions illustrated in the various views. The flatintegral flanges 16 may be about inch in width. In order to permit theclips and the flanges 16 to be pressed on the baseboard without bucklingthe flanges, and also to retain the clips and supported articles on thebaseboard, the flanges form an angle a with the surface 6 of thebaseboard of about 40 to 60, preferably 50, as illustrated in FIGURE 4.The same angle is formed with the outer flat surface of the body 14 ofthe clip 13 or with the horizontal when the clip stands on a horizontalsurface.

The clip is provided with means for mounting an article thereon. In thesimple embodiment represented by the clip 13 in FIGURE 4, the mountingmeans constitutes the hole 15 in the body of the clip, in which may besecured an article or additional mounting means. Preferably, anadditional load supporting element is joined to the body 14 and extendsor projects outwardly therefrom. For example, the simple form of theclip 13 may have attached thereto a bent utility rod 25 as illustratedin FIG- URE 9, by riveting or other appropriate attachment.

A further illustration of a very advantageous construction is given inFIGURE 8, which illustrates a merchandise rack or shelf 26' which servesas a load supporting element and is fastened to the perforated clip 13by a tubular rivet or grommet 27. The merchandise rack is provided witha plurality of holes or openings 28 in which numerous articles may bedisplayed or supported. To illustrate, a tooth brush may be displayed ineach of the openings, various tools such as screw drivers may bedisplayed or supported, and other uses become apparent.

. The merchandise rack 26 may extend for a considerable distance andinclude a number of holes, so that a pair of clips 13 is fastened to therack, only a portion of which is illustrated.

Another useful construction is illustrated in FIGURE 7, and it includesthe clip 13 and a card holder or the like 29 riveted thereto. A channel30 is provided at the base of the holder for supporting cards, priceindicia, and the like. A card holder may also be supported by two clips13 if it is relatively long.

An especially useful embodiment is illustrated in FIG- URE 10, wherein ahook 31 is pivotally secured to the outer face of the arcuate body 18 bymeans of a tubular rivet or grommet 27. In alternative constructions ofthe clip, the load supporting element may be integral with the body ofthe clip, being stamped therefrom, .as illustrated in 'FIGURES 1-3, 5, 6and 12. In producing such a clip, it is blanked out on a progressive dieand preferably heat treated after it has been cut and shaped, to providea strong one-piece construction.

In the embodiment of FIGURE 5, a pair of opposed nibs 32 are pressed outfrom the body 20. They serve to support a can by its lip or edge, asillustrated for the can 7 in FIGURE 1.

In FIGURE 6, a clip 33 is illustrated, from the body 34 of which aperforated flange fitting 35 has been pressed out. The flange is normalto the outer surface of the body 34 and is provided with a central hole36 which may serve for supporting various articles. As illustrated inFIGURE 1, a wire hanger 5 may be added, and articles of merchandise arehung thereon.

FIGURES 2 and 3 illustrate a clip 37 and sleeves or collars 38 pressedfrom the body 39 thereof. A bottle holder 40 is supported by the clipand the ends 41 of the holder are journalled in the sleeves 38. Theholder is constructed of spring wire and includes a central loop 42,intermediate sides 43 and the ends 41. The holder 40 is placed around abottle 44 as illustrated in FIGURE 2, and the ends 41 are inserted inthe clip. For insertion and removal of the holder, the sides 43 arepressed together by the fingers, removing the ends 41 from the sleeves38. The holder is rotatably journalled in the 6 sleeves 38, so that thebottle 44 is supported with its side abutting'on the outer surface 6 ofthe baseboard.

The preferred clips are constructed so that when engaged with thebaseboard, the flanges 16 and/or the adjacent body portions of the cliptend to clap the strip portions 10 between them, i.e., they exertpressure thereon. This both assists in preventing accidental removal ofthe clip and supported article and provides a tight connection to thebaseboard without substantial play or relative movement of the two. Theclips may he slid along the strip portions but the spring tension andfrictional resistance prevents the clips from being readily displaced byaccidental contact.

The elements of the new combination of the grooved baseboard and thenovel clip cooperate to provide a versatile changeable display andsupport fixture which constitutes an improvement over the pegboardswhich have long been in use. The snap-on clip is especially well adaptedfor locating and supporting articles of numerous types and sizes on thebaseboard, with ease and simplicity of mounting and removal. The fixtureis especially adapted for mounting wherever desired, such as on a wall,over a partition wall, on or extending from a post or column, hanging inaisles, and any other convenient locations. The construction islightweight, strong and durable and yet presents an attractiveappearance and is well suited for its diverse uses.

The invention is hereby claimed as follows:

1. A display and support fixture which comprises a grooved baseboardhaving a plurality of parallel dovetailshaped ribs, a snap-on resilientclip mounted thereon, said clip having a concave-convex body, a frontpanel, oppositely disposed and outwardly flaring panels, and reentrantflanges, said flanges being substantially shorter than the flaringpanel-s, said re-entrant flanges being so angled and the front panelbeing so spaced from the baseboard that pressure placed on the frontpanel of said clip causes said flanges to engage said ribs, and means onsaid clip for mounting an article thereon.

2. A display and support fixture which comprises a grooved baseboardhaving a plurality of parallel dovetailshaped ribs, a snap-on resilientclip mounted thereon, said clip having a concavo-convex body, a frontpanel, oppositely disposed and outwardly flaring panels, and reentrantflanges, said flanges being substantially shorter than the flaringpanels said front panel being raised from said baseboard, saidre-entrant flanges forming an angle with the sunface of said baseboardof from about 40 to about and means on said clip for mounting an articlethereon.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS733,945 Connolly July 21, 1903 2,665,869 Samuels Jan. 12, 1954 FOREIGNPATENTS 10,524 Great Britain 1903 471,092 France July 1, 1914 834,465France Aug. 16, 1938

